Case Number 03601: Small Claims Court

THE BABYSITTERS CLUB

The Charge

Friends 4 Ever.

The Case

Kristy and her friends are the most popular babysitters in the small Northern
town of Stoneybrook. They have even formed a quasi-business, known as The
Babysitters Club, to maximize their businesses potential and coordinate their
busy schedules. As summer rapidly approaches, the girls hit upon a wonderful
idea: they will open a day camp for kids and make even more money. Problem is
the girls are surrounded by a lot of other distractions that may keep the entire
experience from being a success. The new next-door neighbor, Mrs. Haberman,
doesn't particularly care for the noise produced by dozens of brats. Claudia is
flunking her all-important science class and needs help with her studies. Stacey
is smitten and keeps trying to catch the eye of a hunky Swiss visitor who's much
older than she. And all the while, spoiled rich brat Mallory wants to undermine
the Club at every possible turn. When Kristy's time is taken up with a secret
she must keep from the rest of the group, camaraderie and compassion are tested.
It will take a strong bond of friendship and a little luck, to keep the members
of The Babysitters Club together before fall fills the air.

The Babysitters Club is a decent little movie that constantly fights
with itself, like mortal moviemaking enemies, for ultimate cinematic supremacy
over the way in which it tells its tale. On the dark side are the formulaic
trappings of most kid friendship flicks, with their antagonist neighbors, snotty
snob nemesis, and overly feminized boy-toy heartthrobs. Like a mad motion
picture mongoose, these tired traits drag the sunny snake of a storyline down
into the pit of potential despair to taint its true heart. Then, like a
superhero champion for all that is just and fair in family friendly
entertainment, smart writing, excellent performances, and a real sense of unity
and friendship amongst the young cast defeats the doldrums of dumb and,
suddenly, Moriarity is conquered and Holmes heads back to Baker Street for a
snifter and a shot. The Babysitters Club is indeed a war, one that makes
the final verdict on who wins the cinematic high ground a very close call. For
every scene that meanders over into cliché territory, be it the standard
goofy guy who really wants to impress the pretty girl with his awkward antics
routine to the best friend's flummoxed by a secret that isolates them from the
rest of the brood, the script battles back to turn these potential problems into
insignificant serrations in an otherwise solid, sweet story. Based on the hugely
successful series of young adult book titles, The Babysitters Club has a
built-in audience just waiting to see their favorite characters visualized on
the big screen. Some may be disappointed, but others will find this solid, if
occasionally syrupy film enjoyable.

This is a movie that really mixes its metaphors and its tone to cover all
the emotional bases, from broad comedy to intense human emotion. It wants to
make sure not to miss once single ounce of interpersonal or social
significance/interaction between the characters while it occasionally falls into
archetypal antics. Hoping to encompass all of childhood in one cinematic sweep,
the main issue with The Babysitters Club is its wide-open focus. Whenever
you have nine main characters and five major storylines vying for attention
within one film, something's going to go underdeveloped. But luckily, this movie
finds ways to resolve its shortcomings without making you feel like you're being
cheated (manipulated, perhaps). The real reason that The Babysitters Club
works is because it constantly defies the conventions that occasionally help
move its plot along to say something profound about that time of eternal
possibilities: young adulthood. It makes the clever move of never once talking
down to or over the heads of its intended audience. It's intriguing that the
secret which begins to divide the club is not some stupid crush or forgotten
birthday/date but a returning deadbeat dad who wants his presence kept secret to
further avoid the shame of his irresponsibility. In the single/step parent state
of our current society, this rings with far more truth than a missed deadline or
some convoluted case of mistaken identity. And most pre-pubescent films give
their cast either arch one-liners or hyper-intelligent twaddle to talk about
when they aren't musical montaging their way through some stupid subplot. But
the dialogue in The Babysitters Club sounds honest and true. Yes, it
occasionally falls back on the fallacies of familiarity to keep the forward
momentum going, but more times than not, The Babysitters Club is an
imperfect, but wholly wholesome slice of endearing entertainment.

In keeping with the direct to diaper cases marketing of this product,
Columbia TriStar has released this film in a less than stellar full screen
package. Not that The Babysitters Club is some sort of miracle of framing
and/or composition. The 1.33:1 image is perfectly fine, without major flaws or
defects and since this has all the ear-markings of "made for
television" all over it, seeing it in this fashion is not completely
uncalled for. The aural presentation is equally underwhelming. Aside from the
brief humor to be found in listening to the girls speak French (the optional
soundtrack), the Dolby Digital Stereo is fairly routine. Oddly, this is a bare
bones disc without a single link to anything associated with the film (the cast,
crew, or literary source material) or any other Columbia TriStar product. While
it would have been nice to showcase the young talent in the film (Sissy Spacek's
daughter Schuyler Fisk plays the lead role of Kristy and Rachel Leigh Cook has
definitely gone on to bigger, if not necessarily better things) or offer some
insight into the immense popularity of the books (heck, they were even
referenced in a classic Simpsons episode), all we get here is the
film.

As stated before, it's a mixed mostly toward the amusing bag of good and bad
points. The Babysitters Club would have been a first-rate film had they
simply scuttled the stupid story points and let the characters interact and
speak to each other. But that's apparently not what the wee ones want. So if you
can survive moments of slow slapstick and pre-teen tantrums, you will really
like the core of this film. Inside the same old shell is a very tender, touching
tale.